PEI: August 22, 23 and 24

Day 15

Another sunny day in Nova Scotia. Good for driving, I guess. We decided not to take the ferry, so made good time getting through NS and New Brunswick, all the way to Parc Provincial de la Republique by 8:00.

We stayed again in site 82, so no new view from my chair. Just a long day.

We did note that there are no interesting signs on any Canadian highways. Not good for the blog :-)

Days 16 and 17

We've stayed in this park many times, and have never visited the NB Botanical Gardens, so today was the day. It's a lovely garden:

The best part was the butterflies:

We could hear the whine of a power tool and followed it to the workshop of Luc Cyr, the artist in residence. He creates beautiful wooden sculptures, especially birds, and he made me little male figure which I've named Luc and will cherish:

After this diversion, we hit the road and got through NB and Quebec easily with leisurely stops and snoozes. Montreal was a breeze at 8:00 and we stopped at the Flying J just in to Ontario for a sleep. Home by noon and very happy with our Down East visit.

Here are the treasures I collected. I love finding beautiful beach glass, rocks and shells wherever we go. Great memories!

PEI: August 21

Day 14

What a whale of a day!

It was another beautiful morning, so we headed to Sandy Cove Beach nearby before we rode out to Whale Watching at 1:00. This is a beautiful beach, and with the tide out, the beach glass hunting was amazing:

The small harbour was also lovely. We love the weather-beaten look of these places. Digby Neck is much like Newfoundland, along with the wonderful people:

One story about Sandy Cove's welcome to strangers was about Jerome. In 1863, fishermen found him on this same beach, with freshly surgically amputated legs. He never spoke more than what sounded like his name, Jerome. He lived silently among these people until his death in 1912. Mystery.

A quick lunch (and Gravol on my part!) and we boarded the Georgie Porgie. It was a long way out with a few sightings (lighthouse, a seal, some hungry birds and dolphins):

Then we started seeing whales off in the distance:

Then closer and closer to a pair. They swam nearby, showed us their tails then rolled and slapped their fins (some form of communication) and entertained us:

In the distance, we saw a boat watching even more antics. When we got there, we were amazed at two adults and a calf. They were close enough to get us wet as they rolled and frollicked in the rockweed, showing us their faces and bellies:

These are only a few of the pictures of an amazing day of watching whales. We got some great video too:

Dolphins

Whale Tail

Flying Humpback Whale

Sideways Humpback Whale

Whale in the Rockweed

Wow. We topped off this spectacular day with a delicious halibut dinner at Lavene's Cafe.

Here's another view from my chair:

And a view (of Sandy Cove harbour) from the bike:

PEI: August 20

Day 13: August 20

Up early and on to Digby. After a grocery shop, we decided to go to the Whale Cove Campground on Digby Neck and adventure from there.

It's an interesting place run by Vaughn and Gloria Tibb (big name around here). It's a farmhouse full of Vaughn's “finds” and campsites scattered around. He's a great talker and kept us company through the set up.

We had lunch, got on the bike, and headed out. First stop was down the road to Whale Cove:

Then we headed towards the East Ferry to Long Island:

After a short wait (oil trucks have priority), we crossed and took a nice ride. It was the first real twisting, turning ride, and it was fun. 

Once we hit Freeport and the next ferry, we stopped, had an icecream, and booked a whale watching trip for tomorrow then headed back.

It was a beautiful day finished with a great steak dinner and a beautiful sunset over Whale Cove, right from the dinette window:

Here's a view from my chair (actually the dinette; can you believe this?):

And the best view from the bike (most pics today were from the bike):

PEI: August 19

Day 12: August 19

Really enjoyed our PEI stay! But needed to move on. We decided on Digby and a possible ferry to St. John, so we left bright and early.

Once we hit Nova Scotia and Truro, we went on the Glooscap Trail, hoping to see the tidal bore, etc. As we drove, alas, once more the trails of NS thwarted us. It was long, rough, and very far inland, so no water view and really only a pain.

We got to Grand Pre and a Passport America campground and stayed the night. It was a mess of permanent folks, but there was a redeeming beach attached and we walked the low tide mud for a while:

A lovely older gentleman did tell us the story of a male Bishop (big farming family here), who (in the early 1800's) walked across the bay from Grand Pre to Parrsboro in the winter, crossing the ice flows with a ladder. He went to propose to a woman who said yes. Lovely.

Not much to report, but we're here!

Here's a view from my chair (not so pretty!):

PEI: August 18

Day 11: August 18

We avoided another bad weather forecast and enjoyed sun all day after 10:00. Beautiful.

The morning was spent drinking coffee and chatting with neighbours (Judy and David, the ones with the dog who peed on my chair who eventually came to like me and licked my face goodbye, were leaving).

Decided to head for the Scottish Heritage Day in Eastern Kings. It was their first and featured vendors:

Sheepdog herding demonstrations:

the Belfast Pipe and Drum Band:

Mussels (David's first plate ever-I had four):

AND Chef Michael Smith who judged the Potato Salad and Raspberry Jam contest. He's very handsome, but Carol told me that he is no longer with Rachel (mother of Gabe) who was featured on the Chef at Home show on the Food Network, but is with another woman and has a new baby. Not happy with him:

We headed back for another beach walk. Lots of people have shown up and it's noisy tonight. But it's been a great stay.

I forgot to take a view from my chair (the glorious view hasn't changed) and there was no time for a view from the bike! More tomorrow.